Fred Ball was born in Oakland, California in 1945. His father F. Carlton Ball (1911 - 1992) was a prominent and well-regarded ceramist, author, and educator and his mother Kathryn Uhl Ball (1910 - 2000) was an accomplished illustrator and enamelist. From a very early age, he studied enameling with his mother and by the time he was twelve years old, he was demonstrating enameling technique at the California State Fair in Sacramento. After spending several years abroad between 1966 and 1969, participating in the "World Campus Afloat" program at Chapman College, he returned to his beloved city of Sacramento and received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the California State University, Sacramento.

Ball is perhaps best known for the monumen...